Decolonizing Sociology Through Collaboration,Co-Learning and Action: A Case for Participatory Action Research1

Despite important efforts by postcolonial scholars to “decolonize” sociology, this endeavor remains limited by the scaffolding of empirical research, or the institutionalized practices and beliefs embedded within data collection and researchers' relationship to research subjects. In its current form, this scaffolding excludes “subaltern” voices from critiquing and extending sociological theory, deriving benefits from the study, or informing social actions that stem from the research. This limits the field's understanding of the multi-faceted impacts of colonialism and retrenches inequalities between scholars and participants. Participatory Action Research (PAR) offers an alternative, decolonial infrastructure. PAR acknowledges the value of knowledge from the periphery and calls for (1) the participation of marginalized research populations in each step of the research process; (2) co-learning between researchers and participants; and (3) collaborative social action that centers the needs of marginalized research populations. Drawing on a case study of PAR in Rio de Janeiro, I demonstrate how PAR allows sociologists, in partnership with historically colonized groups, to decolonize sociology not only in theory, but in the concrete practices of empirical research.     

色情故事掩盖下的市民意识形态

《金瓶梅》和《贞洁的厄运》都可以归入性小说之类,两部作品充满了色情的内容,但它们的美学价值和社会意义又得到众多学者的承认。在这两部作品产生前后,法国和中国都有过性文学的短暂繁荣。文章试图对这两部产生于不同世纪和不同文化背景下的作品做类型学的比较研究,探讨其作者的真实创作意图和小说所体现的主题及实现主题的不同手段,进一步认识在特定历史文化条件下出现的“色情作品”的美学和社会意义。     

Developing countries and systemic pension reforms: Reflections on some emerging problems

Since 1981 close to forty countries have introduced systemic pension reforms that have replaced all or part of prior pay‐as‐you‐go (PAYG) schemes with privately managed funded defined contribution (FDC) pillars or systems. However, over the past decade about half of these countries have subsequently cutback on, or entirely eliminated, these FDC schemes. In this article we explore some of the reasons why this reversal is often taking place in developing countries. As part of our analysis we propose a new pension reform typology that goes beyond the commonly used dichotomy between PAYG and pension privatization. We identify and discuss four factors that are of particular relevance to those seeking to understand the pension policy reversals that have been taking place in many developing countries: low pension coverage and incentive incompatibility, triple burden costs, tradeoffs between pension reforms and social pensions, and difficulties with annuitization.     

Paid parental leave and other supports for parents with young children: The United States in international comparison

The United States is at a crossroads in its policies for families and women. Currently, the United States provides basic support for children, fathers, and mothers in the form of unpaid parental leave, child‐related tax breaks, and limited public child care. In contrast, the other member states of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) empower families through paid parental leave and comprehensive investments in infants and children. The potential gains from strengthening these policies in the United States are enormous. Paid parental leave and subsidized child‐care help to get and keep more women in the workforce, contribute to economic growth, offer cognitive and health benefits to children, and give parents options in defining their preferred work‐life strategy. Indeed, the United States has been falling behind the rest of the OECD in many social and economic indicators by not adequately investing in children, fathers and mothers. Given the significant payoffs to these family supports, this article focuses on issues of reconciling work and care commitments for families with young children, and, in particular, on paid parental leave policies within the OECD and the United States.     

科斯定理的重新解释——兼论中国新制度经济学研究的误区

科斯定理与价格理论的方法论基础是完全一致的 ,差别在于是否引入交易成本这一约束条件。从这种意义上说 ,科斯定理乃是标准价格理论的一个特例。但由于经典文献表述方式的局限及价格理论的欠普及 ,中国经济学界对上述关系并未给予充分认识 ,以致在新制度经济学的研究中普遍陷入误区。走出误区的根本途径是 ,进一步强化以价格理论为核心的主流经济学训练 ,以此作为理论创新的前提。     

我国产权关系变迁对政府会计影响及对策

会计的核算对象是产权,产权关系的变迁必然影响会计制度建设。目前,产权会计学派的研究重点主要是关于企业会计。将产权会计学派的研究成果援引到政府会计领域,通过对我国计划经济时期、经济转轨时期、市场经济时期的产权关系与政府会计之间关系的分析,利用科斯定理预测我国产权关系变迁的未来,提出关于我国政府会计变革的建议。     

生态·能量·中国地域文化

作为一种文化唯物主义理论,在西方流行的"文化进化论"中有一些成分值得中国地域文化研究加以批判借鉴。其中,"文化生态学"和"文化进化能量法"以及"新进化论"等学说,均在一定程度上与唯物史观有所契合,对我们解剖中国地域文化的异同提供了某种基本视角。     

“得”字句与语体的关系

运用计量统计的方法对“得”字句与语体的关系进行分析,根据统计结果,得出的结论是：“得”字句出现频率最高的是文艺语体,下面依次为政论语体、科技语体和公文语体,同时作家个人语言风格的差别,也影响作品中“得”字句数量的多寡;“得”前谓词大多数是及物动词、不及物动词和形容词,其中及物动词“得”字句在各类语体中出现的次数最多;“得”后补语分表描述、评论和描述/评论,它们由于受语体的制约,根据表达需要进入各种语体,各尽其职。文中还对不同补语与各类词语的对应情况作了考察,进而分析了它们产生对应关系的原因。     

现代汉语中两种表反复义的结构“X（啊）X（啊）的”与“X（啊）Y（啊）的”比较分析

现代汉语口语中的“X（啊）X（啊）的”、“X（啊）Y（啊）的”两个结构在形式上相似,表义上也较相近。文章考察了两种结构中X、Y的类别,限制以及两类结构各自的语法意义,并从充当句法成分的能力以及对否定词和代词的选择方面讨论二者间的差异,最后指出结构中的“的”字并非可有可无。     

Un plafond à caissons : les femmes à l’EHESS

The feminization of employment at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS) in Paris has fallen off after an early start and it remains low. This is not to be set down so much to the formally discriminating nature of the recruitment examination (concours) as to competition, the accumulation of social capital and the methods for producing job applications. The initial feminization owed much to long inhouse careers, as women were recruited without sitting for an examination but into subordinate positions from which they could move upwards. This trend came to a halt as this channel of recruitment was shut down and a more elitist, relational and competitive one was opened that leads fewer women to enter job applications. The situation is not a stalemate however. A group of women professors has managed to place the gender question on the agenda and this seems to have given a (weak) boost to feminization.